SHS in a microscopic view

Secondhand Smoking relative with smoked tobacco bring forth massive destruction to a person more than firsthand smoking. SHS with its root of sidestream smoke which comes from the burning tip of the cigarette, holds about 4 times more toxic than mainstream smoke(which is directly inhaled through the mouth end of the cigarette )sidestream smoke contains much higher levels of many of the poisons and cancer-causing chemicals in cigarettes.

Imagine how fatal a non-smoker can get from someone who smoke. It seem everywhere you go there are many people who smokes in public places in which a lot of people is vulnerable in breathing in the toxic it has. 

It shows with this graph  below the consequences of being a victim of SHS.

It can be inferred that Ischaemic heart disease accumalates the greatest factor cause of death in majority of the world like in South-East Asia, Europe and Western Pacific. 

Smokers are not only putting themselves at risk, but also 1.8 billion non-smokers. In 2004, 40% of children, 33% of male non-smokers and 35% of female non-smokers were exposed to SHS worldwide. 

In the Philippines, Smoked tobacco prevalence is high as shown below. 

The data shows that it is the male adults  who are chainsmokers having the highest percentage compared to females. They are greatly producing these hazardous smokes in our country. 

Indeed the surveys of WHO compels us for immediate solutions. Not adhering to this issue will make more death tolls. The situation is at its peak, very alarming and health destructive. 

Applying direct pressure to the open wound...

Due to this havoc, certain laws and legislation has been imposed by the government. A way to counteract the cutting of population that SHS is causing. Refer on the table below as for Philippines :

In the Philippines, while subnational legislation exists, no jurisdiction was assessed as having a complete ban in place;not all have smoke legislation policy is some sought after places like restaurants, offices and alike. With this it can be conclude that smoking is not absolutely ban in the Philippines. Rather these policies have control only to some areas.  

Aside from creating regulation for smoke free environment, The government also realized in imposing the Sin Tax Law. This law adds more tax to cigarettes as a means of control. 

Numerous scientific studies have also documented that smoke-free policies do not have an adverse economic impact on the hospitality industry.

The concept of imposing more tax to tobacco can be represented on the graph below: 

As the government increases more the Tobacco Tax, the lesser will be the number of death and disease it may cause. Conversely, the lesser tobacco tax will urge consumers to purchase more and thus higher number of death and disease.

The fight for a clean air to breathe is everyone's concern. No one is excused. Children of parents who smoke, get to heaven earlier. STOP SECONDHAND SMOKING NOW!

Deadly

Yes, secondhand smoke can kill. 

In 2006, a surgeon has concluded that secondhand smoke can kill and there is no certain amount of exposure that is safe. The more we are exposed to secondhand smoke, the more health risks we'll have.

Secondhand smoke have a number of serious health effects on nonsmokers, particularly cancer and heart disease.

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 different chemical compounds, more than 50 of which are known to cause cancer. Some of the many chemicals are:

• Hydrogen cyanide -  highly poisonous gas used in pest control and chemical weapons  
• Benzene - component of gasoline
• Formaldehyde - used to embalm corpses
• Carbon monoxide - poisonous gas found in car exhaust

They Could Be Us

It has been a long and tough day for Eric, running errands and doing paper works for his daytime job. At last when the night came, he can finally unwind in a quiet place as he escapes the mental stress of today’s tasks. He fetches a pack of cigarette from his pocket and lit a stick. It is clenched tight between his teeth; its other end glowing against the darkness outside. He closes his eyes as he savor the warmth filling inside his nose and mouth, and after a while, blows out one long trail of smoke.

This has always been his guilty pleasure. As much as he understands the health consequences of smoking, but one cannot simply turn away from the temptation according to him.

It could be a relaxing night for Eric, but truth been told, not for everybody around him. Tonight, he is not alone. He is lounging outside a café, with lit cigarette in one hand as people walk past his seat. Without him knowing, he has exposed others to all health risks he may be experiencing. The toxic chemicals being exhaled are the same kind of chemicals the people around him inhale. Unfortunately, everybody else is walking slowly with him as he marched to his death bed.

They are inhaling secondhand smoke. And they could be us.

Secondhand Smoking Effects

Just how chronic the effects of secondhand smoke will be to passive smokers?

Toxic chemicals that make up secondhand smoke

Normally, the mixture of gases and fine particle from smoke exhaled contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, 250 of which are known to be harmful.

And so, this leads to six million people being killed by smoking-related complications with more than 600,000 non-smokers being exposed to secondhand smoke. The Philippine Cancer Society reports that each year, about 3,000 non-smoking adults die of lung cancer as a result of breathing in passive smoke.

Just as smokers are at high risks of serious medical conditions, such as cancers, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, studies have shown that passive smoking can also cause the same health issues to non-smokers. In adults, secondhand smoke increases the risk of developing lung cancer by as much as 30 percent.

But that doesn’t end there. Manuel Silos, a pulmonologist from the Medical City in Pasig, adds that secondhand smoking also has adverse effects for the other organs aside from the lungs. It can cause increased risk of heart disease by 25 to 30 percent, as well as triggers asthma attacks. Infants and children will most likely suffer sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems and severe asthma if they’re subjected to secondhand smoke frequently.

The amount of harm secondhand smoke inflicts is related to exposure. The longer one is exposed to it, the greater chances of developing serious cases of health problems. This means, constant involvement to smoking especially for jobs such as that of bartenders and waitresses will have increased chances than those who are not involved.

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What is Secondhand Smoking?

According to Cancer.org, Passive Smoke or commonly known as Secondhand Smoke (SHS) is breathing in other people’s tobacco smoke. It is a mixture of two forms: side stream and mainstream smoke. Side stream smoke comes from the lighted end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar while mainstream smoke are the one exhaled by the firsthand smoker.

Common sense might tell us they’re the same, but in reality they are different in concentrations of cancer-causing agents (carcinogens). Side stream smoke has higher concentrations of smaller particles, thus making their way into the lungs and the body’s cells more easily.

When non-smokers are exposed to passive smoking, they breathe in nicotine and toxic chemicals by the same route the smokers do. The more SHS they breathe, the higher level of these harmful chemicals poisons the body.

The Department of Health (DOH) says 23.9 million Filipinos are exposed to tobacco smoke daily—a substantial fraction of the entire population. After all, this is no surprising since the country is named by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation as among the top smokers in the world. Accounting nearly one billion smokers worldwide, the Philippines contributes 17.3 million smokers aged 15 and up according to 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Surveys.

And the deadlier truth is, they can be everywhere.  You can be exposed to secondhand smoke in homes, cars, workplace and public places such as bars, restaurants and any recreational settings. Anyone of us can be a victim.

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